Competencies for Pre-Doctoral Curriculum

Competencies for Pre-Doctoral Curriculum

The University of Louisville - School of Dentistry

Competencies for the Pre-Doctoral Curriculum

Approved by the DMD Curriculum Committee: August 28, 2008.

Revised August 28, 2012 and November 19, 2013

Competencies are the essential knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary for the safe practice of dentistry. Taken together, they provide the building blocks for the dental curriculum. Competency includes knowledge, experience, critical thinking, problem-solving, professionalism, diagnostic and technical skills, and self-assessment. It is practice that is evidence-based, patient-centered, ethically and compassionately delivered, and respectful of all individuals in a humanistic culture. These components become an integrated whole during the delivery of patient care by the competent practitioner. It is important to caution against reducing the framework to a checklist of competencies or requirements, each of which is dealt with in isolation from the others. The practice of dentistry must be viewed as the sum of the holistic interactions and values of all of the above.

Professionalism, Ethics, and the Law

1.1. Provide compassionate and ethical care to a diverse population of patients.

1.2. Communicate effectively and in a professional manner with peers, other health care providers, staff, patients or guardians and the public at large.

1.3. Recognize the role of self-directed lifelong learning and self-assessment in maintaining competency and pursuing proficiency.

1.5. Apply the principles of ethical reasoning, evidence-based information, community based service learning, and professional responsibility as they pertain to patient care, practice management, and addressing the oral health status of the public.